Look of Revelations
by Bryn Gwyrdd
Summary: In the aftermath of discovering their mystery marriage isn't, Lee and Amanda decide to come clean.
1. The Son Also Rises

Disclaimer: I do not own of these characters; they are the property of Shoot the Moon Enterprises and Warner Bros. Television. I acknowledge gratefully the hard work of the creators of the series who brought to life characters we like so much we can't let them go.

* * *

 **The Son Also Rises**

 _Because why did we never see the boys again after "One Flew East"?_

"So who are we going to tell first?" Amanda asked as they lay cuddled together on Lee's bed.

"What do you mean? Your mother and the boys should be first obviously."

"You don't think we should make sure it's not going to cause problems at work first? Maybe we should talk to Billy before we tell anyone else."

"A-man-da! Absolutely not! We are not letting work dictate our lives anymore. Besides, Francine already knows – sort of – and Billy has done everything except book a church for us himself so he's going to be happy no matter what. No, work can wait until Monday."

"Lee! Billy isn't work!"

"Okay, we tell Billy un-officially next, but we tell the family first." Lee paused and asked uncertainly, "So how do we do that?"

Amanda began to giggle. "Well Sweetheart, it's not exactly going to be a surprise to any of them after all this time!"

"No, but do we just go in and announce it? Or do you want me to propose in front of them? Should I ask for your mother's blessing?"

That really set Amanda off shrieking with laughter. "Ask for her blessing? Lee, she's ready to march us down the aisle at gunpoint!"

"I know – why do you think I keep my gun hidden from her? I just feel like I owe her something after all this time."

"Excuse me? You owe _her_ something?"

Lee looked up and met Amanda's laughing eyes. "Well, you already know I love you – now I have to convince her!"

"She already knows you love me!"

"I meant I have to convince her I love her!"

"You're in love with my mother?"

"Amanda! I meant I want her to know how much I want to be part of her family!"

It was no good – she was curled up in a ball beside him, laughing so hard it eventually set him off as well.

When they finally managed to stop, Lee asked, "Ok, seriously, how do you want to do this? Just put on your ring and go home?"

Amanda was still wiping the tears from her eyes as she struggled to sit upright and lean back against the headboard. "No, because they all saw me this morning without it and they think we've just been at work all day. We can't have them thinking you didn't do something romantic – Mother would be so disappointed if she thought you just asked me over coffee break or something."

"As opposed to the romance of proposing in a terrorist's dungeon?" responded Lee, shaking his head.

Amanda cupped his cheek in her hand and looked into his eyes laughing. "Hey! That _was_ romantic! Nothing says I really love you like waiting until I hadn't showered or brushed my teeth for four days and still asking!"

Lee rolled his eyes, hiding his secret pleasure at how easily she could joke about that horrible week now. He leaned over to give her a quick peck on the lips and then got back to the topic at hand. "So do you want a proposal in front of them then?"

Amanda did her best to look serious. "Oh, that's a lot of pressure too – to make it seem natural, I mean. How about we just spend time with them tonight and then during the weekend, we'll see what comes naturally. If we haven't found an obvious opportunity by Saturday night, we'll disappear on a walk or something and then come back and announce it."

"Fine," Lee grumbled. "If we've managed to not tell them this long, I guess I can handle one more day."

Amanda giggled. "Listen to Mr. Grumpy over there – I think you're more excited to tell them than I am."

"Am I? Really?"

"No, not really," she wriggled into his arms. "I'm just about bursting at the seams – it's been too long already."

"I couldn't agree with you more." He kissed her once more, then stood up and held out a hand to help her from the bed. "Allons-y, ma chère."

* * *

"So what did you and Mom do while we were away?" came an inquiring voice from the backseat.

Lee glanced in the rear view and met Jamie's eyes. He and Amanda had swapped cars after he'd volunteered to go pick up the boys from the pool party while Amanda went to Marvin's to pick up dinner. She'd promised the boys to make their favorites, but that trip to Marion - and other more enjoyable distractions - had put too big a dent in her schedule for that to happen now. Happily, as she'd pointed out to Lee, adolescent boys are always happy to have junk food, so they wouldn't really be disappointed.

Lee tried to answer Jamie's question with as much truth as possible. "Oh not too much really. It'll be nice to have the weekend together actually. There was a big project at work that kept me busy so we barely saw each other most days."

"Really? What was the project about?"

"Uhhhh - a kind of history of Russian defectors. Who knows, by the time you get to high school, maybe you'll get to sleep through it in class one day."

Phillip laughed but Jamie just made a small noise of acknowledgement before saying, "So it just kept you busy? Mom wasn't helping?"

"Well she was but more in the behind-the-scenes stuff. Our friend Francine was helping me a lot with the research parts."

"Oh. Well, she's nice. That must have been fun." Jamie's voice was oddly flat and Lee looked in the rear view again, trying to figure out if mentioning Francine had upset him somehow.

"So good time at the pool today?" he finally asked.

Phillip began to enthusiastically describe the waterslide that had been installed since their last visit, but Lee noticed that Jamie had lapsed back into meditative silence.

They arrived back at the house, Phillip bouncing in like a rubber ball, Jamie following more slowly. Lee hung back for a moment, studying his body language and trying to decipher if he was just tired or if something was bothering him, before following him into the house.

 _Maybe it's a good thing we decided not to spring an engagement on them if something's up with him._

Unlike his brother – but just like his mother – Jamie didn't dump everything in the hall on his way in, but stopped to place it carefully out of the way of traffic, even pulling his wet towel and trunks out of the bag and carrying them through to the laundry room before coming back to the kitchen and silently surveying the scene.

Phillip was already at the counter, bouncing on his toes and telling Amanda and Dotty about the party while he dug through the paper bags from Marvin's. Amanda batted his hands away, sending him to wash his hands, before beginning to pull out plates. She turned to ask Jamie to set the table, only to find him already halfway through the task. She raised her eyebrows and glanced at Lee with a questioning expression. Jamie was the responsible one but this seemed robotically well behaved even for him. Lee shrugged – they could both tell something was up, but they'd seen him too little in the past week to understand what it could be.

Dotty caught the look passing between them and sidled over to Lee. "I take it you don't know what's going on there either?" she whispered.

"No, he was like that the whole way home on the car," he muttered back, out of the side of his mouth. "Could something at the party have upset him? Maybe some girl?"

Dotty grinned. "Funny how your mind goes straight there, Lee." She gave her grandson a considering glance. "I don't know though – he seemed okay when he left this morning and he was in a wonderful mood this past week up in the mountains."

Lee looked stricken. "Do you think it's something I did? Or didn't do?" He wracked his brain trying to think if he'd promised Jamie something before the trip to the mountains.

"I can think of at least one thing you haven't done, Dear, but I doubt that's what's upset Jamie," replied Dotty with a knowing look as she walked away.

 _And let the jabs begin_ thought Lee, smiling inwardly at the thought of finally telling their family about their wedding plans.

Jamie stayed mostly quiet through dinner, answering politely enough when addressed and actually becoming quite enthused describing some of the things he and Phillip had done on their trip with Dotty and Curt, but in between he lapsed into silence again, obviously a million miles away. When dinner was over, he asked to be excused and picked up his plate to take it to the sink. Phillip was excused as well and bounded up from the table. During one of those silences that often fall in the middle of a conversation, the three adults could clearly hear Phillip and Jamie's hissed whispers.

"Told you it wouldn't work, Wormbrain!" mocked Phillip.

"Shut up! It just needs more time!"

"It's been a month! If you want it that bad, you should just ask!"

"Don't be dumb! It'll work! It's just taking longer than I thought!"

The three grownups exchanged looks but it was obvious none of them had the slightest clue what the boys were fighting about. After a moment, Jamie disappeared upstairs while Phillip reappeared to ask if Lee wanted to go into the backyard and help him with his football throws. It couldn't have been more than ten minutes later when the phone rang.

"Oh hi, Joe! How are you?" asked Amanda, hearing her ex's voice.

"I'm fine but is there something going on between you and Jamie that I don't know about?" he asked immediately.

Amanda slumped onto one of the kitchen stools, lifting her eyes to meet Dotty's concerned expression. "Not that I know of, but he's been in a weird mood since he got home. Why are you asking? Has he said something to you?"

"Well, not directly, but I just got off the phone with him and he was asking if he and Phillip could come over again next weekend. I mean, I'm never going to complain about him wanting to spend time with me, but it just seemed odd – he had that camping weekend with us, and then he went away with Dotty and well, I just wondered if he was upset with you or maybe Lee for some reason."

"I don't know why he would be, he's barely seen either of us for long enough in the last few weeks to have something to be mad about." Amanda chewed her lip as she tried to think of something, anything that would have her youngest son trying to avoid home. "What did you tell him?"

"Well I told him he's always welcome here, of course, but that he should make sure it was okay with you – and that's when he got kind of weird and evasive. Anyway, I told him it was still fine but I hoped you'd know what's up."

"I don't yet, but I'm darn sure going to find out," she answered immediately. "If he won't tell me, I know how to make Phillip talk."

Joe's warm chuckle came down the phone line. "Okay, just let me know if I need to get involved."

"I'll let you know either way. Thanks for calling, Sweetheart."

Amanda hung up slowly and stared into space for a moment.

"What was all that about?" asked her mother gently.

"Apparently Jamie's just phoned Joe to see if they can go stay there again next weekend but won't tell him why," she answered absently. She looked over at her mother. "What could be bothering him so much that he won't talk to me about it?" she asked in a hurt tone. "He's always told me everything!"

"Well, I haven't the faintest idea, Amanda, but I don't think you're talking to the right person." Dotty pointed at the ceiling with a knowing look.

"You're right," Amanda sighed. She glanced out the back window to where Lee had just sent a football spiraling into Phillip's hands. "Do you think I should send Lee up there? Maybe it's a guy thing."

"Your call," shrugged Dotty, "but you've done pretty well with them up to now. Maybe if you can't get it out of him, Lee can try later."

Amanda considered that for a moment, then steeled herself to go upstairs. She paused outside the boys' bedroom door and knocked quietly. Hearing no answer, she pushed it open gently to find Jamie standing lost in thought as he stared at a pile of clothes on his bed and an open suitcase

"You unpacking from your trip or planning to run away from home?" she asked with a smile.

Jamie lifted his head to look at her and gave a deep sigh. "Did Dad just call you? I heard the phone ring."

"Yeah," admitted Amanda. "He was worried we were fighting about something." She paused as Jamie's shoulders slumped. "So are we? Fighting about something, I mean?" She ventured further into the room and perched on the side of the bed. "I mean, I'm happy that you want to spend time with your dad, but you know, I've hardly gotten to see you guys lately – I miss you."

Jamie came and sat beside her, fidgeting with a pair of socks in his hands. "I miss you too," he sighed.

"So how come you want to go back to your dad's next weekend already? Did I do something? Did Lee? Or someone else? You know you can talk to either of us, Honey."

"No, you haven't done anything," muttered Jamie. "Not a thing. Not a darn thing."

Amanda tried to read between the lines, but came up blank. "We heard you and Phillip downstairs – can you tell me what it is that 'isn't working'?"

"You heard that, huh?" Jamie snuck a quick look at her before going back to staring at the socks. "Phillip's right – it was a dumb idea."

"What was a dumb idea?" prodded Amanda. "Are you in trouble somehow?"

"No, nothing like that." Jamie went silent again and just when she thought she was never going to get anything out of him, it burst out of him. "It's just… sometimes I wish I was a regular kid."

Amanda stared at him, speechless. "Sweetheart, what are you taking about? You're the most regular kid I know!"

He pushed his glasses back up his nose and sighed. "No, I'm not. I'm the weird kid." He looked up at her helpless expression. "Nobody else has a dad that they barely know. Their dads are around all the time and come to their games and yell at the refs and they act like they're really embarrassed, you know? But really they like that their dad shows up and…"

"So you want to spend more time with your Dad? Well, that doesn't need to be a big secret, Sweetheart," Amanda said encouragingly.

"No! I mean, yeah, I like getting to spend more time with Dad, but he still lives across town, not here – and I'd like to be a regular family, like my friends."

Amanda couldn't help the pang of disappointment. "Well, your Dad isn't going to move back here, Jamie," she began, trying to choose her words carefully. "I mean, he's marrying Carrie and they have their own house…"

"That's not what I meant!" said Jamie sounding slightly shocked. "I mean, I like seeing Dad lots now that he's home and I really like Carrie – she's super nice but it's just that when Lee came to pick us up today, I thought maybe it was because he wanted to talk to us alone and then he just talked about what we'd been doing all day and about how busy he'd been at work and then I got home and there was just Marvin's instead of a special dinner – I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Marvin's – but you'd said you were going to make us something special and then everything was just normal, you know?"

Amanda stared at him, completely confused. "Is normal bad?" She found herself having to bite her lip as soon as she'd asked, suddenly remembering all the conversations she and Lee had had about "normal".

"No, normal is great – it's just that I thought this time maybe finally it would be _different_."

"Jamie, Sweetheart, you've lost me."

Jamie took a deep breath. "You guys have been together _forever_ and Lee said ages ago that he wanted to marry you and so I kept thinking that one day you'd tell us you were getting married but it's been months and nothing's happened so I figured that maybe you never got any time alone to be romantic and stuff so me and Phillip have been trying to go over to Dad's a lot so that you could go on dates and stuff without worrying about us and so maybe he'd finally ask you, and then today I was _sure_ that's why you offered to make us a special dinner and then it wasn't special and you don't have a ring and - "

"Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Amanda held up her hands in an effort to stop the never ending sentence. "Are you trying to tell me that you and Phillip have been avoiding me all summer _on purpose_?"

"No!" said Jamie indignantly. "We weren't avoiding you! We were just trying to give you, whaddyacallit, 'me time'. And it hasn't been any good because every time we come home everything is exactly the same!" He finished his outburst and pulled his glasses off to wipe his eyes on his shirt.

"Oh." It was all Amanda could manage to get out, concerned that if she tried to say anything else she'd burst into hysterical laughter.

Jamie looked at her suspiciously, as if he could sense the tenuous grip she had on herself. "See? You think it was a stupid idea too!"

"No, no, I don't. I really don't!" Amanda managed to choke out, taking in a deep breath. She stared down at her hands and her bare ring finger, trying desperately to think of how to handle this unexpected situation.

 _What a day – first Lee and his stupid list and then his stupid 'never happened' and now this._ If she hadn't known it would upset Jamie, she would have been laughing by now. And then she got an idea. She could almost hear Boris Karloff's voice in her head: _What a wonderful, awful idea_.

She took a deep breath and tried very hard to control her voice. "You know what? You're right. I've been too easy on Lee, waiting for him to get up his nerve. But you know what else? I can't ask him to ask me to marry him – I mean that would just be me proposing to him, right? But _you_ could tell him, you and Phillip, I mean…" She let the sentence drift off and snuck a look at Jamie through her lashes. He was looking at her half suspiciously, half interested.

"You want me and Phillip to _make_ him propose?" he asked.

"Well, not exactly _make_ him, Sweetheart. Maybe just, you know, _encourage_ him. You know he'd do anything for the two of you."

Jamie had the beginning of a slight smile on his face. "You mean because of he's still worried we only like him because he has a cool car?."

"You do like him, don't you?" asked Amanda suddenly uncertain.

"Of course we like him! He's awesome!" scoffed Jamie. "That's why we want him here all the time. We wouldn't have to share you if he was here every day and we could just be a normal family!"

"I know Lee would really like to be part of a normal family," Amanda agreed. She grinned at her youngest son. "But maybe he just needs a push…?"

Jamie's small smile broadened as he took in what she was saying. "So I should go downstairs and give him a man-to-man talk?"

"Oh no!" Amanda was laughing openly now. "He's already worried that you're mad at him about something – you should take advantage of that. How about I send him up here?"

Jamie nodded, grinning broadly. "Yeah, okay. That would be fun."

"Okay, but don't frighten him off, alright?" Amanda patted his hand and stood up to walk to the door, but stopped when he called her back.

"Mom? What I said before, about not being a regular family? I didn't mean it to sound like you and Grandma didn't do a good job – you're an awesome mom and I don't ever want Grandma to leave or anything but you really love Lee, don't you?"

She stopped and smiled at him. "I really, really do, Sweetheart. Almost as much as I love you and Phillip."

Jamie's face lit up with laughter. "Okay then. Send up the victim."

Amanda walked slowly back down the stairs, trying her best to get the smile off her face and to look as serious as possible. She must have succeeded because when she walked out into the garden, Lee's expression immediately became one of concern.

"Is everything okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Well, I think whatever is up with Jamie must be a guy thing because he won't talk to me at all. Do you think maybe you could try? He's really upset about something."

She felt a twinge of guilt at how worried Lee looked at that moment but then she remembered that ridiculous list and stood aside as he squared his shoulders and headed inside to talk to his stepson. She waited until he was out of earshot before whispering to Phillip, "You should probably go too since you were in on Jamie's plan."

Phillip looked at her with a shocked expression. "You know about the plan?"

"Yep – now scoot upstairs and help your brother! He's going to give Lee a man-to-man talk but it might be better with two men!"

Phillip's easy grin appeared and he shot off after Lee.

Amanda followed his path back into the house more slowly, sliding onto one of the kitchen stools and dropping her face into her hands before beginning to rock back and forth laughing uncontrollably.

"Are you alright, Darling?" asked Dotty.

Amanda looked up and pointed an accusing finger at her mother. "I blame you! He's exactly like you!" she managed to gasp out before starting to laugh again.

"Who's exactly like me?" asked Dotty in confusion.

"Jamie! He's been on the warpath this whole summer – exactly like you!"

By now, Dotty was laughing simply from the way Amanda couldn't stop. "Amanda! What on earth are you talking about?"

Amanda straightened up, took in a deep breath and told her the whole story of Jamie's plan. As she went on, Dotty's eyes grew wider and wider and then she began to laugh helplessly as well.

"Oh my Lord!" she finally managed to gasp out. "And you sent Lee upstairs without telling him any of that?"

"Well, he did something dumb today and I owe him a tiny bit of revenge for that," admitted Amanda. "But the thing is, Mother…" she paused and looked up at Dotty with a smile.

Dotty gasped and clasped her hands together, her face lighting up with pleasure. "Amanda! Are you and Lee making it official at last?"

"Well, yes – but you can't let on that you know! He wanted to talk to you and the boys first but now that Jamie's forced the issue…"

"My lips are sealed. You know, Amanda, I was quite the hit as Ado Annie in my college production of Oklahoma – I'm sure I can dredge up enough old acting skills to convince Lee I'm surprised!"

"I'm sure you can, Mo-". Amanda stopped speaking abruptly as they both heard the boys' bedroom door open and Lee's footsteps moving slowly down the hall and stairs. They shared one last glance before schooling their expressions to look as serious as possible when he finally appeared at the top of the family room steps, looking shell-shocked.

"Is everything okay now?" asked Amanda, only the slightest quiver in her voice.

Lee was still too stunned to notice. "Uh, Amanda? Do you want to go for a walk? We should talk."

"Of course, Sweetheart!" Amanda leapt to her feet, making sure not to look at her mother as she walked across the room and up the steps. She stepped past Lee and moved quickly out the front door, waiting for him to follow before taking his hand in hers. They walked down the front path and out onto the sidewalk in silence, turning in unison to head toward the park at the end of the street.

"I think that might have been the most uncomfortable conversation I've ever had in my life," said Lee finally. "And that includes the time my uncle found me half-naked with the base commander's daughter in the backseat of my car."

"So did you find out what was bothering him?" asked Amanda innocently, but obviously not quite innocently enough. Something in her voice made Lee stop dead and turn to look at her through narrowed eyes.

"You knew! You knew when you sent me up there!" he spluttered.

"Knew what, Sweetheart?" Amanda put on her best wide-eyed look.

"You knew they were going to give me a lecture on how I'd been leading you on and how you deserved better and how if I wasn't going to man up and marry you, I needed to let you down gently and get out of your life! Francine couldn't have done it better!"

Amanda couldn't control herself any longer, throwing her head back in howls of laughter. "They actually said that?" she finally gasped. "They told you to man up?"

"Yes, they did!" he answered indignantly. "And you sent me up there without any kind of warning!" He crossed his arms and glared at her. "I don't think I want to marry such a sneaky woman after all!"

"Oh Lee! You're marrying an entire sneaky family! Wait until you hear this…"

As Amanda began to tell him exactly what Jamie and Phillip had been up to all summer, three pairs of eyes watched carefully from their vantage point at the living room window that let them see all the way down the street to the park.

"Do you think he's asking?" Jamie was worried when they saw Lee cross his arms. "Maybe we scared him too much."

"I should have known your stupid idea wouldn't work," grumbled Phillip.

"Don't worry," said Dotty encouragingly, hiding her smile. "I think he might just be getting up his nerve."

Meanwhile, down the street, Lee was being given a whole new insight into family life.

"You're kidding!" Lee said finally in a stunned voice. "They parent-trapped us the whole summer just to get me to marry you?"

Amanda nodded. "They did. Welcome to the real-life Family Affair, Uncle Bill!"

"They might be sorry – they think they're getting Eddie's Father and I might turn out to be the Incredible Hulk."

Amanda gurgled with laughter. "What does that make Mother? My Favorite Martian?"

Lee reached out and took her hands in his. "But seriously, we can't disappoint them, can we?"

"No, I don't think we can," she agreed, eyes alight.

"Do you think they're watching?" Laughing hazel eyes met brown ones, brimming with love.

"I'd bet my entire paycheck on that."

Lee stepped closer and took her in his arms. "I love you."

Amanda looked up at him, beaming. "I love you too. So will you marry me? And my crazy family?"

"That would make me the happiest man in the world," he replied, lowering his head to kiss her.

If they'd been listening to anything except each other, they might have heard the whoops of delight coming from 4247 Maplewood Drive.


	2. Domestic Diplomacy

Disclaimer: I do not own of these characters; they are the property of Shoot the Moon Enterprises and Warner Bros. Television. I acknowledge gratefully the hard work of the creators of the series who brought to life characters we like so much we can't let them go.

A/N: For my parents make a small but vital off-screen cameo in this one, and it happened exactly as described.

* * *

 **Domestic Diplomacy**

It had taken a lot of self -control on Lee's part to keep a straight face in the face of the boys' nervousness when they returned to the house. They had walked back in to find a trio on tenterhooks waiting for them in the kitchen, all too obviously waiting for the Big Announcement.

"So your mom and I were just having a long talk about what we should do next and we were wondering how you'd feel…" Dotty and the boys leaned forward expectantly. "…about going out for ice cream?"

He and Amanda lasted through almost five seconds of stunned silence before losing it and starting to laugh.

"LEE!" The boys chorused in identical tones of exasperation even as they leapt across the room and tackled him.

"So that's a yes to ice cream then?" Lee finally managed to get out, somewhat out of breath from being hugged hard by two exuberant teenagers.

Jamie leaned back and punched him in the upper arm. "You'd better be kidding!" he muttered with a mock-aggrieved expression.

"Well, we'll need energy to discuss the wedding plans," Lee grinned at him. "From what I hear, women can exhaust you with this stuff."

Jamie grinned back and said in a teasing tone, "Well, I'm glad to see you took my advice, young man" which sent his mother and grandmother off into gales of laughter.

Lee turned and jabbed an accusing finger at Dotty. "A-ha! I knew it! You were in on it too!"

Dotty held up her hands in surrender. "Only after the fact, Lee Dear! Believe me, I was completely innocent in the whole thing!"

She stepped over and stood on her toes to kiss his cheek, before reaching up to rest her hand there. "Welcome to the family officially at last, Darling! I couldn't be happier for both of you."

Lee smiled down into the brown eyes so like Amanda's then tilted his head and narrowed his gaze. "I don't think you can say you're completely innocent, Dotty – they just came up with a better plan than you did."

Dotty beamed up at him, eyes twinkling. "Ah, but I knew I just needed to wait the two of you out. You couldn't keep this up indefinitely, after all."

Lee's dimples deepened imperceptibly as he thought how long they'd been managing to do just that, before pulling Dotty into his arms for a hug. "Thank you for putting up with me," he murmured to her quietly. "And thank you for Amanda – she means the world to me, you know."

Dotty's embrace tightened around him briefly before she looked up with shining eyes. "I've known that for a long time, Lee. Even before California. And I believe it goes both ways – she adores you."

Lee's head dropped to rest on top of hers wordlessly as he pulled her into a tighter hug before releasing her and saying in an overly bright tone, "Okay, so really, how about that ice cream?"

The boys had raced ahead on their bikes to the ice cream stand to get in line. On such a warm summer night, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that it would be crowded and that, even on foot, the grown-ups would catch up to them long before they reached the counter to order.

As the three adults moseyed along in the boys' wake, Amanda and Lee hand in hand, Dotty began quizzing them on all the possible logistics. Had they thought about dates? Venues? Guests? Big reception? Small reception? Dinner or just cocktails and canapes? At first they tried to keep their answers to a bare minimum, but when she made a comment about putting an announcement in the paper, they exchanged a look that stopped her rambling line of questioning dead in its tracks. She gazed at them for a moment then nodded her head decisively as if they'd actually spoken.

"No, you're right. No announcements in the paper. That could lead to far too many questions," she remarked agreeably.

This time it was a confused look they exchanged and finally Amanda ventured to ask, "What kind of questions would those be, Mother? You don't think we _have_ to get married or anything do you?"

Dotty trilled with laughter. "Of course I don't, Darling! I just meant that you can't put an announcement in the paper to announce a wedding that you can't have since you can't get married again." She looked brightly from one to the other. "Besides, if you put it in the paper, you'd be getting calls from all your crazy cousins on your father's side and you know they'll only want to come because they'll think it will be open bar. No, you're quite right to keep it quiet."

By now, Lee and Amanda had stopped dead and she was a few paces in front of them before she realized and stopped to turn and look at them inquisitively.

"Mother, what do you mean I can't get married again?" Amanda asked carefully. "You do know my divorce was finalized years ago, right?"

Dotty looked completely taken aback for a long moment then burst out laughing. "Oh Darling! I didn't mean _you_ can't get married again. I meant you _two_ couldn't get married again. I mean, it's not bigamy or anything, but I don't think you're allowed to marry the same person twice, even if it is in a different state." She tilted her head and gave them a considering look as she realized that neither of them had said anything for several seconds and in fact, appeared to be completely unable to speak. "Or have you already looked into that?"

"Mother, what are you talking about, we can't get married again?" Amanda asked in a strangled voice when it became apparent that Lee wouldn't – or couldn't – ask.

"Well, you're already married aren't you?" asked Dotty with real surprise in her voice. She paused, suddenly uncertain. "I mean, you eloped in California, didn't you?" She looked from one stunned face to the other. "I mean you were so shifty about your plans and then Lee was already there and the staff kept calling Amanda your wife those first few days, and Barney made a few comments about looking after family and…" She lifted her hand to her mouth and stared at them in dismay. "You're not? Oh goodness, I feel so silly now, I was sure… Are you alright, Lee Dear?"

Amanda turned to see that Lee was bent over, hands on his knees, shaking with laughter. Laughing so hard in fact that he was wheezing instead of breathing, and every time he looked up at the two women and their concerned faces, it set him off again. Finally Amanda turned to her mother and asked, "Well, if you've thought that all this time, why on earth have you been bugging us to get married?"

Dotty's smile returned as she realized her daughter hadn't actually denied it. "Amanda! I never did any such thing!"

"Mother!" said Amanda hotly before Dotty interrupted her again, waving a finger at her.

"I've never said you should get _married_ , I've been saying you should make it _official_ ," she said smugly.

Amanda opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again and stared at her mother. The wheezing beside her had let up a little bit and she turned as Lee looked up, caught his breath and asked, "Dotty? Have you ever considered a career as an intelligence agent?"

"Oh my, no!" said Dotty completely seriously. "I'm quite happy to leave that up to the two of you!"

Both Lee and Amanda paled and their mouths fell open in unison, and she gulped nervously. "Oh dear, was I not supposed to know that either?"

Amanda turned just in time to see Lee sit down on the sidewalk, elbows in his knees, hands in his face, completely and uncontrollably laughing.

"Lee!" she said sharply. "That's not helping!"

He looked up at her, wheezing again and tried to speak. All she could make out was "Mother….Daughter" and then he was gone again.

* * *

If the boys had noticed that it took a long time for the adults to catch up, they didn't comment, too content to be treated to triple fudge sundaes to care that it had taken longer than expected. Unsurprisingly, they had found most of their friends hanging around the stand as well and were soon gone, racing around the park and perfectly content to leave the adults in peace at a nearby picnic table.

"Alright, I understand how you busted us on the marriage, but how on earth did you figure out everything else?" Lee asked, stretching his legs out in front of him and playing with Amanda's fingers with his free hand. "How long have you known that?"

"Oh gosh, it seems like forever," answered Dotty while Amanda shook her head in disbelief. Dotty stared up into the canopy of the overhanging tree as if she might find the answer there. "I guess I started to think about it after Elly Mackenzie told that story at the bridge club one day. You know Elly, don't you Amanda?"

"She's the wife of a Canadian diplomat who lives down the street," Amanda explained to Lee. "He's in their trade department, I think."

"Yes, that's right," confirmed Dotty. "Actually he's their agricultural attaché and..." She paused as Lee gave a bark of laughter. "Well you see? That's the point of the story! Elly was telling us about meeting some woman at one of those diplomatic parties who was giving her knowing looks and making it quite clear that she thought there was no such thing as an agricultural attaché and that she thought Gerald was a – now what did she call it?"

"A spook?" Lee supplied helpfully.

"Yes! A spook! And Elly thought it was simply hilarious because Gerald really does just spend all his waking hours up to his ears in soybean exports and lumber tariffs! And she said that everyone knows who the 'spooks' are in the embassy anyway!"

Amanda turned and looked at Lee with concern. "The Canadians have spies in their embassy?"

"Yes and no. Yes, there are intelligence agents assigned here, but since the last time we looked, they're on our side, they all work with American counterparts out at – never mind. Need to know," he finished hurriedly. He turned to look at Dotty. "So why did that make you think we were spies?"

"Not that we say 'spy"" said Amanda under her breath and Lee squeezed her hand and shot her a quick smile.

"Well, I guess it just got me thinking about things that would make a good cover story for being spies – you know, like that TV show where she's a photographer and he's a fashion model? And then Amanda had the flu and she was complaining about how she hadn't gotten to go to that tennis tournament because of it, and I remember thinking how odd it was that a government film agency would do a documentary about such a thing. But then it was all over the news about a bomb threat there and it was right after that business with Andrei and one thing led to another and it just _clicked_. And _then_ of course I remembered Amanda telling me once she was a spy and I hadn't believed her, but now that all made sense. Much more sense really than all those stories you used to spin. I'll miss hearing those," she added thoughtfully. "And well, once I had that thought in my mind, everything that happened after that just kind of confirmed it. Especially after you ran away together and I had a house full of federal agents. That Mr. Melrose tried to pretend to be all business, but some of the other agents said things that made me think they knew you both pretty well."

Lee was grinning from ear to ear by the time the ramble ended, laughing quietly at the idea that there'd ever been a time when he wouldn't have followed that perfectly. "Why did you tell her you were a spy?" he turned to Amanda with a smile.

"I thought a nuclear bomb was about to go off and flatten Arlington! I would have told her anything to get her to leave town!" said Amanda defensively.

"There was a nuclear bomb in Washington?" Dotty asked round-eyed with amazement.

"NO!" Both agents answered in unison, looking at her with horror.

"Not exactly, no," Lee went on in a quieter voice. "Just forget you heard that part."

Dotty made a zipping motion across her mouth, then beamed at both of them. "So what are we going to do about getting you two official at last? Will you just renew your vows? You can't elope again – the boys would be heartbroken if they didn't get to see it – and so would I! But I can understand completely about why you'd need to keep it quiet in your line of work."

"Ah, well about that, Mother," began Amanda.

Lee reached across the table and took Dotty's hands between his own with a dimpled grin. "If you like weddings and adventure stories, then this is your lucky day! Have we got a story for you." He cocked an eyebrow at Amanda who nodded with a soft smile and then turned back to Dotty. "Okay, so here's what happened…"


	3. Say Uncle

Lee flopped back onto the couch beside Amanda, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"So how's Uncle Robert?" she asked.

"Same as always," answered Lee. He was trying to sound peeved, but his voice was noticeably more mellow in tone than the old days when he used to tell her about his childhood.

Amanda said nothing, simply cocking an eyebrow and waiting for him to continue.

"I said 'hello' and he said 'Skip, are you marrying that poor girl soon or am I going to have to come up there with a shotgun?'" Lee had his uncle's gruff tone down to a 'T'.

"So he approves?" she chuckled.

"You already knew he approves," Lee said reprovingly. "Just wants a time and place and he promises he'll be there."

His eyes were dancing though and Amanda knew there was more to the story. "And?" she prompted.

"Because – and I quote – 'if you chicken out and don't show up, I'll come marry her instead. I've had it up to here with you Stetson men getting all the prettiest girls'."

"I always knew I liked Uncle Robert," said Amanda primly but with laughing eyes.

"We could elope to Vegas and then he wouldn't have to travel," offered Lee.

"Lee!" Dotty all but screeched at him.

"Actually that's not a bad idea," said Amanda thoughtfully.

Lee burst out laughing, then paused when she didn't join him. "You're not serious? This is supposed to be serious, Amanda."

"Oh Lee, I don't mean an Elvis impersonator Vegas wedding – I just mean, you know, out of sight a little bit."

"Out of sight? I thought you wanted it all formal and witnessed this time." He remembered too late that the boys were in the house and looked around sheepishly, but they hadn't heard anything, squabbling over something in the kitchen.

"Think about it – there's that law enforcement conference in early October I was telling you about _._ We could pretend to be going for that and Mother and the boys could come with us under cover of seeing the sights."

"You want Phillip and Jamie to see the sights in Las Vegas?" he asked slowly.

Amanda hit him with a throw pillow. "Get your mind out of the gutter, will ya?" she scolded reducing him to helpless laughter. "I mean things like the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon!"

"You really _are_ serious." He still looked uncertain that she wasn't teasing him.

"Yes, I really am. Think of the advantages." She began ticking them off on her fingers. "No waiting for a licence in Nevada so less time for anyone to find out ahead of time. Far enough away that no one is likely to look there for a connection. No need to invite anyone, no need to even officially tell anyone at work except maybe Personnel and that could be in a sealed file. Uncle Robert could be there with no fuss, Maggie and Julie could come. You have to admit – it would solve a lot of problems."

Lee looked at her, head tilted in consideration. "You're right, it would," he agreed slowly. "But are you sure that's what you really want?"

Amanda smiled at him and put out her hand to stroke his face. "You'll be there, Mother and Phillip and Jamie will be there. That's all I need."

"You need your mother and sons on your honeymoon?" Dotty asked dryly.

Lee and Amanda exchanged a speaking look. "I'm kind of over the whole honeymoon thing, actually, Mother. With our luck, we'd run into gold smugglers on our third one too." Amanda clapped her hand over her mouth as she realized what she'd said.

"Third one?" There was no hoping now that Dotty hadn't picked up on her slip. She looked back and forth between the couple, Amanda scarlet-faced and Lee shouting with laughter. "Never mind. You probably can't tell me anyway."

"Not the details, no," grinned Lee, "but it didn't count."

"I'll show you the pictures later, Mother, but in the meantime, why don't you call your uncle back and make sure the dates work for him?"

"I'm not worried. If we do it on a weekend and he only has to drive across town, he'll be there. So really we just have to clear the trip with Billy."

"Before or after we tell him why we want to go?" Amanda grinned at him. She was feeling almost giddy with the knowledge that all the secrecy about their relationship would soon be a thing of the past.

Lee groaned and dropped his face in his hands. "What do I need to bribe you with to get you to tell him without me there?"

"Not a chance, Buster," answered Amanda.

"I'll tell him if you like," Dotty offered with a scowl. "It would give me a chance to give him a piece of my mind about the last few years."

Lee looked at Amanda with a hopeful expression which turned hangdog when she shook her head. "No?"

"No!"

"It was worth a try," he said in a mournful tone which was completely undermined by the way the dimples creased his cheeks.

"Man up, Stetson," she chided him. "Let's go get this over with."

"Man up, she says," he grumbled. "You know, women and small boys didn't used to bully me like this back when I was single."

Amanda stood up and held out a hand. "You know you love it."

Lee shook his head ruefully as he stood up and took her hand in his. "You know me too well." He pulled her into his arms for a kiss, then looked down at her lovingly. "Are you really ready for this? Billy might know about us but once he knows officially, it's a whole new thing."

"Do you really have to ask?" she replied. "How about you? There's no going back now."

"Honestly, I couldn't be happier. It's like I said the other week, we've just been looking for a reason to live like normal people." He tilted his head quizzically at the way Amanda started to laugh then.

"Normal? Oh Lee, I don't think there's any chance of that happening."


	4. Who's the Boss?

Billy looked through the peephole of his front door and sucked in a deep breath before slowly swinging it open to stare in confusion at the agents on his doorstep. Lee and Amanda had shown up without calling ahead and they looked apprehensive. A coil of dread began winding its way through his chest and he wished desperately he was anywhere but here. There was silence for a moment as Amanda stared at her feet and Lee shifted uneasily.

"Well, if you've come to scooch me, can we at least go get a drink and sit down first?" he said finally.

An identical look of horror went across both faces opposite him.

"Oh no, Sir!"

"Billy! That's not why we're here!"

He heaved a sigh of relief and stepped back to let them in. "Well, I'm glad to hear it. I thought maybe there was some housekeeping going on after Harry's little revelation. Getting scooched now would have played hell with my pension," he joked.

He led them into the kitchen, glancing back over his shoulder. They still didn't look entirely comfortable but some of the doorstep tension had lifted. "Coffee?"

"Yeah please, Billy. Just milk please," answered Lee, while Amanda shook her head.

"Yeah, I remember," Billy chuckled. "You don't like sugar."

"That's not what I remember!" said a new voice from the doorway. Jeanie walked in, grinning easily at Lee and Amanda. "I seem to recall the days when you liked nothing better than getting a bit of sugar, Lee." She stopped and shook a finger at him. "In fact, I seem to remember a Halloween party last year where that craving brought you almost to your knees."

Lee blushed but immediately leaned in to drop a kiss on her cheek, then stepped back, eyes twinkling down at her. "This is the problem with old friends," he sighed. "They never forget the most embarrassing stories about you."

"No, we don't," agreed Jeanie, beaming. "How are you, Amanda?" she asked turning to his companion to give her a hug. She studied her for a moment before nodding. "You look a lot better than you did when you got home last spring."

Amanda nodded back, smiling. "I am. I don't think I ever really thanked you for all the casseroles and things you made for us back then."

"You'd have done the same," scolded Jeanie, giving her another quick hug. She walked to stand beside Billy and gave the pair the once over. "Okay, spill it, you two."

Billy shushed her instantly. "Jeanie! We don't even know why they're here yet!"

Jeanie looked at the couple standing opposite and grinned. "Oh, I think we do."

Billy looked at the blushing duo and started to chuckle. "Yeah, maybe we do." He gestured to the kitchen table. "Come and sit down and tell me why you're here."

Lee and Amanda settled in chairs opposite the older couple, then looked at each other silently, obviously trying to decide where to start.

"I see what you mean," said Jeanie a stage whisper to her husband. "It _is_ cute when they do that."

Both agents looked up with a grin at Billy's barking laugh.

"Okay, what do you want first? Good news or bad news?" asked Lee.

"So you do have bad news?" asked Billy, eyebrow raised.

"Well, it's possible we have nothing but bad news," answered Amanda apologetically. "Depending on your perspective."

"Well then, start me with the bad news."

Amanda took a deep breath, Billy noting with some amusement that she had obviously taken Lee's hand under the table. "My mother knows what I do for a living."

Billy grimaced but with a smile. "That must have been an interesting conversation."

"I'll say," Lee grimaced. "It was even more interesting trying to keep her from coming over here with us to give you a piece of her mind."

Billy whistles soundlessly at the near miss. "So did you tell her or did she figure it out all on her own? Because the apple didn't fall far from the tree there, did it?" Billy smiled at his favourite agent. "How did it all come out?"

Lee and Amanda exchanged another look. This time, it was Lee that took the lead. "Well, that sort of leads to the other part of the story." He gulped, suddenly looking nervous. "Ahhhh, Billy, this will come as a surprise to you…"

Under the table, Billy felt Jeanie knock his foot with hers and stifled a snort. "Or it might not," he chuckled. "But try and surprise me anyway."

"So remember back in February when Amanda and I were in such a hurry to get away after that Nick Grant case?"

Billy couldn't keep in the belly laugh as he remembered the way they'd scrambled into that limo and disappeared leaving a trail of dust in their wake. "I sure do – I've never seen two people so desperate to go on vacation." He paused suddenly, remembering how that particular trip had ended.

"Yeah, well, that wasn't just a vacation," said Lee. "That was also our honeymoon."

There was a long silence while Billy looked back and forth between the two of them, then at Jeanie, only to see the same expression of shock on her face that he knew was on his.

"Surprise!" murmured Amanda under her breath hoping to break the tension.

"Your honeymoon," repeated Billy. "You got married six months ago and you're only telling me now?"

Lee and Amana nodded in unison. At any other time, he would have laughed at the way they looked like guilty teenagers but he was still trying to wrap his head around their news.

"So why are you telling me now?" He paused with a stricken look. "You're not resigning, are you?"

"Well we're hoping not to," said Lee gruffly. "But we're not exactly sure of the rules about married agents – married to each other, I mean. If we can't stay partners…"

Billy visibly flinched at the idea of breaking up his strongest team.

"William!" scolded Jeanie. "You've been waiting for them to tell you this for over a year and you didn't make any kind of plan for it?"

"Well, I never thought they'd come to me after the fact!" he defended himself. Because he was looking at Jeanie, he missed the smiles Lee and Amanda exchanged at that.

"A year, Billy? Really?" laughed Lee, disbelievingly.

"Mais oui, mes enfants," their boss chuckled evilly, while his wife fell against him laughing at the shocked expression on their faces.

"You knew that?" squeaked Amanda.

"Not right away," Billy consoled her with a grin. "Not until-". He just caught himself from finishing that with _Birol_. "Much later" he finished, before going on. "So? Why did you wait so long?"

"It's complicated," Lee began at the same time as Amanda said "It's simple really."

Jeanie lost control of her giggles at this point, trying unsuccessfully to stifle them in the face of Billy's glare, until he finally broke as well and started to laugh. "Well, you definitely _sound_ married," he remarked as the other two grinned.

"Ok, seriously," said Lee. "Keeping it secret wasn't anything to do with you, and everything to do with us. We knew we wanted to get married, and we thought we'd approach it more slowly, let the boys get to know me, that sort of thing, and then, well, a lot of things happened that made us think the family would be safer if it wasn't obvious we were more than partners."

He paused as Billy rolled his eyes at them, saying. "You do realize there are protocols in place to keep agents' families safe, right?"

"Well, yes," said Amanda apologetically. "But those families are usually aware there's a danger and mine – well, mine wasn't." Billy nodded thoughtfully as she went on. "But it's become clearer that if I'm ready to go back in the field more, we're going to be targeted anyway and if that's so, we'd rather be fighting it together at home as well as at work."

"I should think so," muttered Jeanie under her breath.

"How long did you think you could keep this up?" asked Billy incredulously. "You must have known it was going to show up in a security check – there's always a paper trail."

"We'd hoped that by the time that came around, we'd already have been settled enough that it wouldn't matter. I mean, you know that I'd already named Amanda as next-of-kin after that poisoning attempt last winter, so it was really only the IRS that cared that we weren't official."

"I care that you weren't official!" protested Billy.

"Fair enough," said Lee in a placating tone. "But we want to be official now." He and Amanda exchanged another look. "And here's the other bit of good news that will probably make everything a bit easier. We're, uh, well, we're not married."

Billy put both hands on the table and leaned towards them. "Did you seriously come over here to just yank my chain, Scarecrow? You just told me you were on your honeymoon six months ago!"

"Well, we thought we were. I mean, we were – we'd gotten married. It's just that it turns out that it wasn't quite legal."

"What do you mean 'not legal'? You're both consenting adults with no ties. Aren't you?" He turned to look at Amanda, suddenly wondering if perhaps the divorce hadn't been properly finalized. "Because Dr. Smyth is going to have a conniption fit if one of you is a bigamist!"

The rapidly shaking heads across the table was infinitely reassuring.

"Okay – so… not legal how?"

"Well, it's really thanks to you that we even found out." By now Amanda was getting well practiced at telling the story of the race to Marion for their appointment, and the subsequent events at the courthouse after they'd left, before finishing with a vivid description of her dismay at finding out the truth when she went looking for those files for Billy. Her efforts brought out Billy's deepest belly laughs, which set off Jeanie laughing as well.

"Lordy, only you two could end up having it happen like this," she finally managed to gasp when Amanda reached the end of the story.

"We certainly never seem to do things the way regular people do," Lee agreed, resting his hand on Amanda's on the table and smiling fondly at her.

"So what now?" asked Billy, wiping the tears of merriment from his face. "Finally going to do it properly?"

"Yes and no," answered Lee, easily. "We have a plan, but that's going to depend on you as well."

"If you need his blessing, I'll make sure you get it." Jeanie's eyes were alight with laughter.

"Good to know," smiled Amanda. "But here's what we're thinking." Once again, she took the lead sketching out her idea to get married in Nevada under cover of the conference. "I mean, we'll take the time as vacation of course, and we can pay our own way, but we do need your approval to register for it so it can be our cover."

Billy shook his head in amazement. It was hard to believe this was the same woman Lee had brought in to meet him almost four years ago; that Amanda would never have been a woman who could sketch out a well-thought out plan to get married under cover.

"It sounds perfect," Jeanie was saying now. "Can we come?"

"Of course you can come!" Lee said with surprise. "We'd love to have our friends there, but we know we're making it tricky for people."

"Francine's going to kill you if she finds out you got married without her seeing it with her own two eyes," commented Billy.

Lee and Amanda exchanged a speaking look, then turned back to him with a sigh.

"Oh for God's sake!" he expostulated. "Francine _knew_? And didn't tell me?"

"We didn't mean to tell her!" protested Lee. "Julie kind of let the cat out of the bag when they were locked in that cellar and she figured it out from there."

"Lee's a bad liar," said Amanda demurely. "She never figured it out from anything I did."

Billy started to grin again at the doleful expression on Lee's face that said he had indeed been the one who'd let it slip.

"Well, I guess I'll need to send her on that conference as well then." He had to smile at the way the two faces opposite him lit up – they were an unlikely trio of friends, but it was obviously a strong relationship. That was Amanda's doing too, he thought. Those other two had been well on their way to hardened cynicism when the Arlington whirlwind had blown into all their lives.

"So when is all this happening?" asked Jeanie.

"The conference starts on September 30 and runs from Wednesday to Friday and then we can just stay behind and get married on the Saturday," answered Amanda.

Jeanie did the math quickly. "So, the 3rd then?"

"Oh!" For some reason, that had startled Amanda and they all turned to look at her. "October 3rd," she repeated looking at Lee. "I hadn't made the connection."

He looked at her blankly for a moment before his expression cleared and he started to laugh. He picked up her hand and kissed it before turning back to the other couple. "October 3rd it is."


	5. That's Not My Department

Monk's was crowded when Francine arrived so she had to settle for a spot propping up the bar when she got there. She was early; she was always early. Years of fake dates, bad dates, "grabber" dates, even good dates – they had all conspired to teach her to arrive early, find the best possible positioning in the room and most importantly, scope out all the escape routes. She knew them all, in every bar, restaurant and party venue on Washington. Monk's, of course was familiar territory and she didn't need to know any of that, but it was an engrained habit and besides, it gave her time to think about why Lee had asked her to meet him here.

She considered the phone conversation. He'd kept it brief and really all he'd asked was that she meet him there, but there'd been something in his voice that suggested urgency. But what could he have to talk to her about that required the quasi-privacy of Monk's? Meeting here rather than Ned's meant he wanted it not so much in sight of Agency people so it might be work-related, but Monk's was still likely to have someone from the Agency kicking around so he wasn't looking for complete privacy. And the fact that he wanted to talk but hadn't picked somewhere more private suggested… hmm, knowing Lee, that suggested he wanted somewhere public enough that she wouldn't make a scene.

Once that thought popped into her head, she couldn't shake it. What could he have done that he needed to confess and was afraid she'd give him hell for it? The possibilities were endless, but the one that kept coming to the forefront over and over again was that he'd done something that was causing him marriage problems. She groaned inwardly – that had to be it. That's why neither Lee nor Amanda had been at work today. What stupid little thing had he let blow up into a big thing? And in what possible universe did he think she'd have any kind of solution when she was worse at this than he was? He'd actually managed to find a wonderful human being and convince her to marry him while her dating history was – what would you call it? Horrific? Hopeless? Heinous? "Hellish" she said out loud.

The bartender looked at her in confusion. "Problem with your drink, ma'am?"

"Nope – it's just what I need." She raised her glass to toast him and took a long gulp. "In fact, make me another one. I think I'm going to need it."

Movement in her peripheral vision made her turn to look at the door in time to see Lee swing in through the door and look around, his easy smile coming to his face when he saw her. She was still trying to decide what that smile meant as he walked towards here when the door opened again behind him and she saw Mark Brady from Inter-Agency Communications walk in.

Her heart sank. She'd hoped to avoid Mark for at least another few weeks until the embarrassment of that date she'd agreed to had passed. He was a nice enough guy and she truly didn't care about that stuff in the shoe boxes under his bed - to each their own – but the date had been just god-awful. After everything she'd been through with Brody and Jonathan, she had stuck with drinking mineral water all evening, so she'd stayed sober while he'd made up for her lack of drinking by getting more than a little tipsy. He hadn't gotten drunk – she'd made sure of that - but worse, he'd gotten emotional and decided they had a serious future. She thought she'd managed to politely dissuade him from that idea but he'd called her at least five times since Friday and now here he was again, zeroing in on her with those puppy-dog eyes.

Her gaze focused on Lee again who was looking more serious and whose pace had slowed as he approached, uncertain what the expression on her face meant, not realizing that she wasn't looking at him. As he stepped closer, she did the only thing she could think of to keep Brady from approaching her – she grabbed Lee by the lapels and pulled him close. "Zulu Blue, Scarecrow. Albatross at 6 o'clock."

Lee's grin reappeared at the old code from their M Street days, and without even a beat, he wrapped his arms around her, spun her into a deep dip and kissed her. Stifling a giggle, she snuck one eye open and watched as Brady's shoulders sagged and he turned away.

She let her head drop back and grinned up at Lee. "Thanks – that worked like a charm."

"Good to know I still have the old magic," laughed Lee as he swung her back upright and released her.

"Honestly, Lee –you've only been single again five minutes and you're back up to your old tricks." They turned to find Amanda standing beside them, hands on her hips, one eyebrow raised. And worse, Beaman was with her, with a wooden expression that said he'd rather be anywhere but here.

Francine's jaw dropped – how had she missed Amanda arriving? And what could either of them be thinking about that little scene?

"Where did you come from?" she asked unthinkingly, her mind racing to figure out how they were going to explain this. "I wouldn't have, um, borrowed your partner for that scenario if I'd known you were here."

The eyebrow went higher. "So you only do this when I'm not around? Good to know. I was walking in just after that guy over there – you probably didn't notice since my ex-husband was too busy kissing you."

"Well, I did tell you it was hot to get to make out with women who aren't my wife," laughed Lee.

"Yes, but that's when I thought you just meant me."

Francine looked at Lee in complete disbelief. He didn't seem the least bit worried that Amanda had just watched that whole thing and they were both openly joking about their marriage in front of Beaman – who looked just as confused as she felt.

"Are you two drunk?" Francine looked from one to the other trying to figure out what was going on.

"Well, it's a long story…" began Lee as he started to guide her towards a circular booth that had just opened up at the back of the restaurant.

"About a short marriage," added Amanda, helpfully.

"What the hell is going on with you too?" snapped Francine finally stopping dead in the middle of the room.

"Come on, both of you," said Amanda, tugging her arm. "It's fine really – we're just teasing. And I guarantee you'll think it's funny when you hear the whole story."

Francine let herself be pulled forward, somewhat unwillingly, to sit at the booth, relieved when Lee slid in to sit close beside Amanda so that they were both across from her, leaving Beaman to sit stiffly beside her. She couldn't see his face easily, but the tension was still radiating off him. She glowered at the pair sitting opposite, identical smiles on their faces. "So you're not div- breaking up your partnership?" She had almost said divorcing before catching herself – they couldn't possibly have meant to be having this conversation with Beaman here.

"Oh no!" said Amanda immediately. "No more divorces for me!"

"We'd have to be married to do that," agreed Lee, chuckling. Seeing the rising annoyance on Francine's face at their jokes, he leaned back and said, "Okay, so you know how when we were driving up to Harry's last week, we talked about how odd it was that the last security check had missed finding our marriage? Well, turns out there was nothing to be found."

Beaman made a choking sound and they all turned to look at him. "You're really married? Not cover-married?" he asked in a tone of disbelief.

Amanda looked confused. "You didn't know that? I thought Billy had told you when he asked us to bring you along today."

"Billy knows?" asked Francine. "When did he find out?"

Beaman swiveled to look at her. "You knew? And you didn't tell Billy?"

"I don't tell Billy everything!" she replied hotly. "Lee asked me not to so I didn't!"

Lee held his hands up in an effort to stop all the cross-conversations. "Look, it doesn't matter who knew and who didn't because we're not married anymore."

"WHAT?" Several heads turned at the sound of Francine's upraised voice and Amanda reached across the table to grab her hand.

"Just technically!"

"Just technically?" repeated Francine. "Isn't that like being a little bit pregnant? You either are or you aren't – which is it?"

"We aren't," answered Lee with a grin. "But just a little bit."

Amanda picked up the story. "Okay look, the night we got married, the Marion courthouse flooded from a burst pipe…."

As she filled in the rest of the story, Francine's mouth dropped open and then she snapped it shut, pressing her lips together to keep from laughing out loud. When Amanda got to the part where she'd found the photo on the bulletin board, she glanced over at Lee. He was watching Amanda tell the story with an expression on his face that made her breath hitch in her throat. _Not married, my eye._ She chanced a glance at Beaman whose eyes had been slowly bugging out as the tale progressed. She wondered why Billy had insisted he be dragged along – he must be hatching something, she decided.

"So now what?" she asked as Amanda rambled to the end of the story. "Let me guess – you've seen the error of your ways?"

"Hey!" protested Lee, getting ready to leap to Amanda's defence.

"Oh not you, Scarecrow," she waved off his protestations with her hand. "You're obviously still smitten. I meant Amanda – this is a pretty good opportunity to cut bait and aim higher."

Amanda gurgled with laughter while Lee leaned forward to respond. "Actually," he said, "she's agreed to marry me again - in front of witnesses this time."

"Against my better judgement," murmured Amanda.

"But now," Lee carried on, pretending he hadn't heard her, "I'm not certain you should get to be one of those witnesses after all. We were holding open a couple of pews for Agency people, but maybe we'll just give your spot to Efraim here."

There was barely a beat before Efraim looked at her and said dryly, "Don't worry, you can be my plus one." Francine punched him in the arm while Amanda choked with laughter. "So let me get this straight," he went on. "You've been married, or at least thought you were married, since February and you've managed to keep up that cover all this time without anyone finding out?"

"Except me," interjected Francine. "And even I only found out by accident."

Beaman looked at her briefly then back toward Amanda. "Well, full marks to you for covert ops, Mrs. King, uh Stetson, uh..." He paused, uncertainly.

"Maybe just start calling me Amanda," she suggested with a smile. "And to be fair, a big chunk of that time, I was recovering so I didn't have to be covert at work."

"But you were being covert at home, I take it?" he asked thoughtfully. "That must have been even trickier – for both of you."

"It had its moments," concurred Lee with a grin.

"So I really only have one question," Efraim went on and they both looked at him expectantly. "Why are you going public now?"

"Tell me something, Beaman. If you were a married man, would you want to live across town from your wife?"

Beaman blenched and almost unconsciously his gaze went sideways to glance at Francine. "Never mind, I take your point." He leaned back against the back of the booth, obviously still bemused. "So I guess my other question is: why am I here?"

"Like I said, Billy told me to ask you along, but I figured he'd explained why to you," replied Amanda.

"He's here because he's the last thread in this tangled web you two decided to weave," said a new voice.

All four of them turned to look at a grinning Billy who was now shooing Lee and Amanda to move further into the circular bench to make room for him.

"I am?" Beaman looked just as confused as the other three.

"You bet." Billy had on his pleased-as-punch expression on. He signaled to the waiter to come to the table. "A bottle of champagne please."

Lee whistled. "Seriously Billy?"

"We have a lot to celebrate, Lee. As long as Mr. Beaman here cooperates."

"Me?" Beaman straightened up, looking worried. "What have I got to do with any of this?"

Billy dropped a manila folder on the table. "I need to some departmental reorganization and the first domino hinges on you."

Efraim looked around the table, somewhat reassured by the confused looks on everyone else's face. "Okay," he said slowly. "What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to answer me honestly - would you say, as the primary training officer, that outside of the firearms facility course, Amanda has demonstrated an exceptional aptitude for her position in the Agency?"

Efraim's brow furrowed as if he thought it was a trick question. "Annoyingly so, Sir. Mrs….uh…"

"Amanda," supplied the object of the sentence helpfully.

" _Amanda_ is always among the top of any class she's in – even when the course work isn't rehashing cases she worked on." The grimace he gave at the end of the sentence brought smiles to every face, except Amanda who just blushed and stared at the table.

"So, if I ask you to sign off her classroom work as complete, by instructor recommendation, would you be willing to do so? Not the physical training, of course, but the rest?"

Efraim didn't rush to answer, giving that the careful thought it deserved before finally saying, "I'd have no difficulty doing that. To be honest, outside of giving everyone else in the classes something to aim for, it's probably wasting her time and the Agency's resources to make her continue."

Amanda made another small noise of embarrassment, as Lee squeezed her hand with a grin. Billy pushed some papers toward Efraim who read them carefully, then signed them and pushed them back.

"Good. That's done. Now, for the rest of you," said Billy, beaming around the table. "So the main problem we have with the two of you being married is that Lee is an AOS-15 and Amanda is still only AOS-10 – which is too far apart for the fraternization policy." He shifted to turn sideways so he could study Lee and Amanda. "So I'm afraid you can't be her supervisor anymore."

"You can't seriously be thinking of splitting us up!" Lee was already starting to yell, while Amanda's quiet "Oh dear" was almost inaudible. Even Francine was starting to make spluttering noises when Efraim's voice cut through the babble.

"But you have a plan," he said, watching Billy's face.

Billy's deep laugh rumbled out. "Yes, Efraim, I have a plan." He tapped the file in front of him. "I'm going up to Smyth's office tomorrow and I'm going to tell him that I want to expand the Q Bureau since it seems to be getting more than its fair share of problems handed to it, especially with these new threats we're getting from computer hackers and fringe groups. So, as the next most senior agent, Francine will join Lee running it, and Beaman, you have the computer expertise, but you need more field experience, so you two will be the first transfers."

There was a puzzled silence as the other four exchanged glances.

"How does that solve anything?" Francine finally asked. "Are you hoping nobody will notice they're married if there's more people around them?"

"Oh no," Billy chuckled. "I'm appointing Amanda as my new assistant to replace you." He had to hold his hand up immediately to quiet Lee's reaction. "Calm down. It's all in the paperwork, Scarecrow."

"I don't _like_ paperwork and I don't _trust_ paperwork," Lee growled. "I _like_ and _trust_ my wife." He looked over guiltily at Francine's huff of annoyance. "You know what I mean, Francine. It's not anything to do with you."

"Good – because you're lucky to have me. And I do know what you mean," she replied. "Okay Billy – what's the deal really? You aren't seriously taking Amanda out of the field."

"No, I'm not," Billy agreed. "I'm just reorganizing resources." He leaned back and rested his hands across his stomach. "You three have worked together on almost every case that's come through the Q for months now - Francine's been like a third person in your partnership – even sometimes when she shouldn't have been." He turned a stern glare in the blonde who shifted uneasily at this reminder of how she'd gone behind his back during Amanda's kidnapping. "You should look guilty, Desmond – I know you've known about these two for months and didn't tell me." He let her squirm a few seconds longer before he wasn't able to hold back his ready smile any longer. "Anyway - if you've been managing to straddle field work and being my assistant all these months, Amanda should be able to manage just as easily - she did great when you were gone on your Caribbean vacation. But with the shift to me as her direct supervisor, and an administrative job that doesn't need firearms clearance…" He spread his hands and waited for the penny to drop.

Amanda got there first, of course. "So on _paper_ , I'm administrative…"

"But the Q Bureau can second her anytime we need her?" Lee finished, in a hopeful tone. "And the fraternization policy won't apply?"

"Got it in one," answered Billy. "Now, I'm also going to ask Smyth if we can make Amanda an acting AOS-12 in the short term until she completes the firearms training – no escaping that, Amanda - so that she can see the classified material that comes across my desk for times Francine is the one in the field with you, Lee. And I _do_ want to see you in the field, Francine. You need to get some active time under your belt for when you inevitably move up the ladder – and steal my job." He sighed theatrically.

"Oh I won't need to steal it, Billy. I just need to wait it out until you retire," said Francine in an airy tone. "It's only another ten years."

"You're keeping track?" asked Billy raising his brows in mock outrage.

"I'm the person who orders your birthday cake every year. I know how old you are," she answered, waving off his scowl. "And I also know it'll only be seven or eight years if Jeanie gets her way."

"Huh. Well with a new assistant, maybe I'll get better cakes," he replied. "Beaman, you look like you have a question."

"Well, I'm following all the logic of what you're saying…" Efraim began.

"But?" Billy prompted him.

"But the Q is a pretty small office – it's cramped with two people in it as it is."

"Good point." Billy seemed pleased to have that brought up. "Since the Q is going to expand its remit, it needs to have some space that's more secure underground - so we're going to convert the small meeting room beside my office into an office for you and Francine, and Lee and Amanda will stay upstairs, since I don't really need her underfoot."

"Oh thank God," said Francine immediately. "Trust me, it's better for all of us if those two have a door you can knock on."

"Hey!" protested Lee. "We're professional at the office!"

"Oh really?" Francine shot back. "How about the time I walked in and you two were-"

"That sounds great, Sir!" said Amanda hurriedly before Francine could finish. "Do you think Dr. Smyth will agree?"

"I think he will – mostly because I think he's perfectly aware you've been involved for some time. Not that you actually got married, but to be honest, you haven't really been fooling anyone for a while now." His smile got broader at the embarrassed looks on Lee and Amanda's faces. "And _you_ might rub him the wrong way, Scarecrow, but he really likes Amanda."

The waiter arrived back the table at that moment with a tray of five flute glasses and an ice bucket with a bottle of champagne in it. "Do you want me to open this, Sir?" he asked Billy.

"No, we'll manage, thanks" said Billy genially. He waited for the waiter to distribute the glasses before grasping the bottle and starting to undo the wire and foil around its neck. The cork came out with a satisfying pop, and Billy carefully filled their glasses.

"Okay people, I told you we'd have a lot to celebrate, but mostly I'd like to make a toast to the present and future Mr. and Mrs. Stetson."

"Hear, hear," Francine responded, reaching out to clink her glass against Billy's. She turned to Efraim just as he lifted his glass to his lips. "Enjoy your last ever drink, Efraim. Because if we're sharing an office, you're going to need to take the pledge."

Efraim paled and looked wildly around the table, meeting nothing but laughing faces.

"Don't worry," said Amanda leaning forward and adding in a stage whisper, "Take it from me – the funnier the zinger, the more it means she likes you."

Efraim gulped slightly and chanced a sideways look at Francine. Her smile did appear quite friendly.

"Yeah – you already know how I like my morning coffee, it'll be fine," she poked him in the ribs. "It's just a shared office – not a hotel room."

"Oh my God," he couldn't stop himself from saying.

"Oh, that reminds me..." Billy flipped through the file folder again and pulled out some of the papers. "Francine, you need to be in Vegas the first weekend in October for a conference, and that means obviously, Beaman will be too. Now would you like to share a room or should I get the travel people to book you separately?"

* * *

An hour later, the champagne bottle had been emptied and Lee and Amanda had headed home claiming exhaustion from the non-stop teasing from Billy and Francine. Eventually Billy had excused himself as well, saying he needed to get home for supper and to tell Jeanie that Operation Housework was well underway, leaving Efraim and Francine alone at the table.

Efraim had just pushed the coffee he'd ordered aside and made a move to leave as well when Francine motioned for him to stay.

"You know, I really was kidding about taking the pledge," she said, gesturing toward his cup.

Efraim grimaced as he began to play with the cup, spinning it absentmindedly on its saucer. "Even so," he responded, "If we're going to be working together, I should probably get used to not needing liquor just to talk to you."

For just a moment, Francine thought he was serious and started to protest, before catching the faintest glimmer of a smile cross his face.

"You weren't liquored up that day you hit on me in the Q Bureau," she pointed out, making him flush with embarrassment.

"Nope," he agreed, popping the 'p" sound on the end of the word.

"What were you thinking?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"Honestly?" he said and waited for her to lean forward, nodding. "I have absolutely no idea. No, seriously," he went on as she started to laugh. "It was some kind of insane Hail Mary pass that always works in the movies. I went back downstairs and curled into a ball under my desk for the rest of that afternoon."

Francine tilted her head and regarded him with a shrewd expression. "But you haven't had trouble taking to me since then. How come?"

"Well, two reasons really," he admitted, staring at the table and spinning the coffee cup. "First, the way you reacted actually helped."

Francine couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of her. "You're kidding!"

"No, I'm not," he answered seriously. "You didn't yell at me, you didn't get angry – you just laughed and made me feel like even more of an idiot than when I behaved badly at the Christmas party."

"And that helped?" She could tell that it had – Beaman was talking to her like a normal person.

Efraim shrugged. "It's hard to keep up a crush on someone when you've made it impossible for them to take you seriously."

"Okay," Francine replied, "That makes a weird sort of sense. What was the second reason?"

"Oh, well…uh…," he peered up at her, his bobbing Adam's apple a sure sign that he was nervous. "You know that night you fell in the river?"

"Oh!" It was all clear to her now. "When you saved me from drowning? Let me guess – you thought I'd develop some kind of superhero crush on you and fall into your arms like some kind of fairy story princess."

"Uh, no, actually. It was after you came out of the water. The drowned rat look really didn't suit you – your clothes were a mess, your mascara made you look like a raccoon, your hair was all flat and stringy…"

Francine's mouth snapped shut as her eyes began to gleam with fury. "Are you kidding me?" Her voice went loud enough that people at nearby tables turned their heads. "I fall in a freezing cold river in the middle of a kidnapping and all you can - " She stopped dead as she suddenly realized Efraim was trying very hard not to laugh. "Fine," she went on more quietly. "Why was that so funny?"

"Oh that wasn't funny at all," he rushed to say earnestly. "I'm kidding about how you looked – but after that, I knew I'd never stood a chance and that made you a lot less scary to talk to."

"Why would that make you think you didn't stand a chance?" she asked, confusion written all over her face.

"Do you know remember what you said to me, right after they pulled us out of the water?"

She racked her brain but finally shook her head. "No."

" _Thanks, Lee_."

Francine winced. "All I remember is seeing a shadow coming into the water after me. I guess I just assumed…"

"No, no, it was a fair assumption. I mean, you didn't even know I was there. But it made me realize that I'm not that guy."

"You were that guy that night."

"Right place, right reaction," he shrugged. "But I'm not really a field guy. I'm not going to be schmoozing with diplomats one minute and involved in a car chase the next the way Stetson does. My superpowers are all in my head," he tapped his forehead. "Up here: rich fantasy life, but out here? Nerd level lack of social skills – as you can testify to."

"Ah." Francine's eyes brightened and he braced himself. "Peacock versus penguin?"

He couldn't help laughing – it was so spot on. "Yeah, something like that."

"Well, you can make me laugh, so we're off to a good start. And you may not be suave, but you've saved my butt more than once, so how about we agree to forget all the other stuff and start from scratch? Deal?" She held out her hand and he shook it solemnly.

"Deal," he said. He waited for her to relax back in her chair before adding straight-faced, "So we're good to share that hotel room in Vegas then?"

Momentarily distracted, Francine's gaze went past his shoulder, meeting that of Mark Brady who was still perched at the bar and still looking hopeful. "That depends," she answered.

"Depends on what?" Efraim was startled - he'd been expecting more of a caustic response.

Francine leaned in, close enough that he could feel her breath against his cheek. "That depends on how well a penguin can perform the Albatross Maneuver."

* * *

Author's End note: I have a whole bunch of ideas bouncing around that aren't part of this "Bryn-iverse" so this is set of stories is complete for now. But keep your eyes peeled – I'm sure the King-Stetson clan can't simply go to Vegas and have a smooth, adventure-free wedding…


End file.
